Lesson 4 of 6
Confirmations: yield, scrap and activities
9 min
Listen to this lesson
A confirmation reports what happened at an operation: how many good pieces were made (yield), how many were destroyed (scrap), how many need repair (rework), and how much time or activity was used. Confirmations drive order progress, actual costs, backflushing, capacity reduction and sometimes the goods receipt.
| Option | Where | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Operation confirmation | CO11N or the Manage Production Operations / confirmation apps | Operator reports each operation at the work center |
| Order confirmation | CO15 | Whole order confirmed at once, often for short, simple routings |
| Cancel a confirmation | CO13 | Wrong quantity or wrong operation confirmed |
| Collective confirmation | Mass confirmation transactions or apps | Supervisors entering many confirmations from paper time tickets |
Confirmation options. Fiori app names vary by release.
Partial and final confirmations
A partial confirmation reports some of the quantity and leaves the operation open; the operation shows PCNF. A final confirmation closes the operation, which shows CNF. When every operation is finally confirmed, the order shows CNF. Many systems use automatic final confirmation: once yield plus scrap plus rework reaches the operation quantity, the system proposes final. Watch for the reverse problem: a final confirmation entered by mistake on a partial quantity closes the operation and blocks further confirmations until it is cancelled.
- MonPartial: 80 yieldOperation 0020 at ASSY-10 shows PCNF; 120 still open
- TuePartial: 100 yield, 5 scrapScrap recorded with a reason; 15 still open
- WedFinal: 15 yieldOperation shows CNF; capacity requirement for 0020 is gone
- WedNext operationEnd-of-line test at TEST-10 can only confirm what assembly passed on: 195 pieces
How confirmations post costs
Each operation has standard values (for example setup, machine and labor time) and each work center links to a cost center with activity types. When the operator confirms 2.5 machine hours, SAP S/4HANA multiplies the hours by the activity rate and posts an internal activity allocation: the order is debited, the work center's cost center is credited. In the universal journal this is a journal entry on a secondary cost element, so finance sees it in the same table as every other posting.
- ConfirmOperator confirms 0020: 100 yield, 5 scrap, 2.5 machine hours, 6 labor hours
- Activity allocationHours × activity rate for the ASSY-10 cost center
- Order debitedActual labor and machine costs on the production order
- Cost center creditedWork center cost center is relieved by the same amount
- Side effectsBackflush of assigned components; capacity reduced; possibly automatic goods receipt
Confirmations can also carry personnel numbers, reasons for variance, and actual dates. Actual dates matter to planners: if operations finish late, the schedule for the rest of the order slips, and the capacity load picture changes. In S/4HANA the order's confirmed quantities also feed shop floor reporting and the planner's Fiori monitoring apps.
What would you do?
An operator confirmed 200 pieces as final on operation 0020, but only 100 were actually assembled. The next shift cannot confirm the remaining work. What is the cleanest fix?
- Confirmations record yield, scrap, rework, activities and dates per operation.
- Partial confirmation sets PCNF; final sets CNF; cancel wrong ones with CO13.
- Activities post costs from the work center's cost center to the order at activity rates.
- Confirmations can trigger backflush, capacity reduction and automatic goods receipt.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Which status shows that an operation has been partly confirmed?
2. How do confirmed activity hours become cost on the order?
3. What does confirming 5 pieces as scrap at an assembly operation post to stock?
4. Which transaction cancels a wrong operation confirmation?